Honestly, I don't think anything in here is terrible. The last four were just a coin toss, ultimately they're all pretty playable. Good job guys! (except you glaber)

Floral Road Zone, Act 1 by "Lat'"
One thing you seem to have a problem with is filling up space. There are a lot of stretches of just running or very basic platforming, and it seems to me like you could do a lot more to make the experience more engaging. The player vertically has a lot of breathing room already, so try some advanced level geometry, throw some FOFs in there. Aesthetically the level looks pleasant enough. Also you're really generous with just handing the player 1ups for finding a spot.

Music files need to be normalized. Too quiet compared to ingame audio. Sonic's speed mod and the red crawla's extra "bulk" don't really come into play with the way the level is designed.

Glacier Gear Zone by toaster
Well, this level's way better than Wacky Workbench, I'll tell you that. But man, that one bouncing section with the laser for a ceiling that you have to zigzag across? Kind of a bitch. Aesthetics are great, challenges are neat and engaging. I feel like you could have used the gimmick even more than you have already though.

Clock Tower Zone by RedEnchilada and Pac
This is a great demonstration of the fantastic 2D mechanics that have been implemented. I want to like this level, but Robo Hoods really suck shit in a 2D environment when their only telegraph is a crappy two-frame animation with no sound effects. Honestly I would have just used pop-up turrets. The trampoline object is cool too, but it feels wrong that I can't use my abilities while I'm on it. The interior aesthetics are just uninteresting; the level progression is a bit confusing in spots (where do I go after obtaining the armageddon shield?)and punishing in others. Also, your audio is too loud, normalize it.

Alright alright, I retried and it worked this time. It's... passable, but really doesn't feel inspired at all. Aesthetics are really bare in a lot of spots, motorbugs don't work in some spots. Whole thing kinda just feels like an obstacle course with not a lot to offer. You could have done something with the slope "physics" you showed off at the end of the level, but you didn't. Why is there a 4-foot-tall fence that I can't jump over guarding the goal sign at the beginning? That's dumb.

I actually kinda like this, your different areas have a decent amount of personality. However, you made some glaring mistakes:

* Arrow signs everywhere! I know you want to keep your player from getting lost or dying a cheap death, but arrow signs just break immersion. You need to try more graceful solutions. Entice them with rings, modify your level branches to "flow" into the next section so that your player sees it first.
* I wanted to jump out the windows of your castle to reach the secret area, but I'm being mysteriously held back by invisible walls. You should add glass panes to make it clear that you can't jump through them.
* Your waterslide completely lacks water rushing sound effects. Breaks immersion.
* All in all just not really engaging in terms of obstacles.

Sand Valley Zone by Chrome

Oh man, now this is a level! This takes a handful of gimmicks and just constantly builds ideas off of them. Feels really expertly crafted, great theming and just a lot of fun to play.

Egg Outposts Zone by Tyrannic
That tune is cool and all, but I don't know how well it fits the theme of this level. Level seems fine overall, the theming feels a bit eclectic though. It's not contained well into a single palette of colors. There is an instance in the second-to-last section where I got sucker-punched by a turret and had to climb all the way back up; considering the platforming, that wasn't very fun. I don't have much else to say.

Seraphic Skylands Zone by Spherallic
Oh my gooooddddd~~~

This is like the most sublime experience. I just kept gushing over the aesthetics and the skybox and... JESUS it's good. It's full of secrets and fun gimmicks, the little details like the patterns you put your rings in.... Everything in here is just cavity inducing. #1 for sure.

Seraphic Skylands
I love this level. It's really pretty and full of stuff to explore.

Sand ValleyI haaaate the super quick-suck sand. The detons are annoying too. I liked most of the gimmicks with the normal quicksand waterfalls, though there were a few awkward ones where it's hard to not accidentally thok at a bad time because of all the mashing. The level is pretty solid and good, though.

Glacier GearThere's some really neat ideas and gimmicks here. The penguins are really cheap and make the level a lot more annoying to play than it should be.

Clock TowersThis is really unique and creative, but it's also buggy as hell. You should have at least let the player know about the issues with the script. Also, the egg guards are incredibly annoying.

Sacred WoodlandIt's pretty average. I could have done without the brak at the end.

Floral RoadI'm not sure what's up with the +speed monitor, but it does make the level a little less boring that it would usually be.

Emerald LakeThere's nothing interesting here at all. I got lost for a bit in an underwater section.

Midnight CavesIt's kinda ugly and fairly boring. The first room is really confusing.

Egg OutpostEggman apparently can't be bothered to pay his electric bill. Seriously, all of the indoor areas are way too dark. I also got lost several times.

1. Seraphic Skylands - Clearly the Botanic Serenity of 2.1. =P It looks great, it plays well. Sure it's rather empty regarding enemies, but that's actually a good thing in this case.
2. Glacier Gear
3. Sacred Woodland
4. Clock towers - Enemy placement is the only thing that kept me from rating this any higher. I thought some of it was rather stupid and could've done without. The platforming otherwise was amazing for a 2D level. The midtexture clocks were really cool too.
5. Sand Valley - I hated the sand gimmick here, but I do realize that yeah, it was put together pretty well. I still got about halfway before I quit because of this gimmick.
6. Midnight Caves
7. Egg Outposts - I think this one had some decent ideas but they weren't executed very well. Try and think about how some of these gimmicks were used originally. Also some bull turret placements.
8. Floral Road - it was really short. It also had some ridiculous GFZ texturing and nothing interesting at all.
9. Emerald Lake - Same as above.

I think I'll be the only one who actually HASN'T played all of the stages, but alot of stages caught my eye, and i'll give you the greatest to least order and rating of the stages I played.

1: Clockwork Towers by RedEnchilada *9/10*
Man, 2D stages in SRB2 have been so plain, yes, I'm looking at you SRB1 Remake (no hard feelings c:), but this stage is beautiful, awesome, and probably the BEST 2D stage in SRB2. My only complaints are the enemies in the stage, for their main purpose of stopping you in their tracks, they will literally PREVENT YOU FROM MOVING ON WITH THE STAGE. The Egg Guards in many locations, were just very pointlessly bouncy hazards that sent you into the bottomless pit, or will make you want to play the Benny Hill theme trying to hit them behind their shields. The Robo-Hood, is, by, far, the WORST, enemy for this zone. The bouncy chains that are really cool take a while to get the height you want, and since the robo-hoods like to time their arrows just right, you WILL get fucked over, you WILL not keep your rings, you WILL die by those fuckers. But all in all, my favorite stage for being something SRB2 never ever saw attempted correctly. And those bouncy chains, reminds me of those slingshots in Ice Cap Zone...

2: Seraphic Skylands Zone by Spherallic *8/10*
Beautiful, Gimmicky, Retro, Beauti- *shot* But seriously, this stage was competing with Clockwork Towers in my favorites, they both are just too good, except Clockwork is a 2D stage '-'. I really like this stages' gimmicks, from reminding me of Lava Reef's Spindash Elevators (or was it Volcano Valley's Spindash Elevators?) to rooms with cool gimmicks like not falling off or you taste ceiling spikes from above. They were just so much fun.

3:Glacier Gear Zone by toaster *7/10*
Well, sad to see it lower, but this stage is a liking of mine, bouncy floors, socced enemies (kinda annoying by the way), and tough difficulty. The enemies weren't very interesting, and the socced enemies weren't really interesting but more annoying than ever. the bouncy floor gimmicks were really creative, especially when the goop came into play, it was all satisfying, i'm actually glad to see the stage done, since i got a hand at the beta demo a long time ago in the IRC chat.

4: Floral Road Zone, Act 1 by "Lat" *5/10*
Well, it's an improvement from the super-short act of New Horizons Beta. The ring meter wasn't all that interesting, in fact, the only most interesting thing is the mega ring monitor, the ring monitor that awards you 15 rings... (or 20?) where it can boost up your meter really easily, but it made the super ring monitor more useless and the mega ring monitor more rewarding for finding a secret, even though it isn't a big enough reward...

5: Emeralds Lakes Zone, Act 2 by glaber *4/10*
This stage got a bad reputation for all it's worth, and i'm sorry, this is one of most glaring stages ever. The music didn't fit considering it was Act 2, some of the badniks were inactive as if their trigger didn't work, and fish under water were inactive. (reminds me of when i was porting the riders levels to 2.1, which succeeded kinda) Sorry glaber, but as Sonic says: "Gotta try harder!"

6: Egg Outposts Zone by Tyrannic *1/10*
I'm sorry, but the cave segment was so fucking dark, I quit in the middle of the stage, and i pretty much couldn't finish this because the cave segment's lighting was god awful (I could probably blame myself for playing in openGL) The beginning of the stage looks beautiful and it was really promising, also, i never took time to hear out of that track... fascinating....

I didn't get to play all of the stages, maybe i will change my ratings and also rate the match stages later.

Last edited by Sapheros; 07-01-2014 at 06:49 PM.
Reason: Damn rating system would get on my ass about it...

Seraphic Skylands Zone10/10
This level is an experience. Every room felt large and had a purpose, the pacing was perfect, the style was great, the gimmicks were genious, there were lots of branching pathways, the music fits the level perfectly, and I literally cannot think of an adjective that describes how outstanding the visuals were. I had zero lag the whole time too, which pleasently surprised me. The skybox was a nice touch and made the level feel so much larger. I can't wait to play the release version.

Glacier Gear Zone8/10
This level was surprisingly fun. There were quite a few branching pathways, each with their own fun and interesting gimmicks. The way you used the Wacky Workbench floors was genious, and the music (What's it from?) was catchy and fit the level. I found a button under the slime in one of the last rooms and couldn't figure out what it did even after searching everywhere in the room. It would be nice to have an indicator as to what it does. Overall a very fun and polished level.

Spinach Ripened Butts 28/10
This is hands down the best 2D level I've ever played. It had neat scenery and atmosphere, and I thought the way you used the Axis2D script to make alternate paths was genious, I was surprised at how clean and non-buggy it was. Fully charging a spindash and jumping all the way around the cylindrical tower to get the emerald token was fun.

Sand Valley Zone7/10
Now this was a neat level! The gimmicks are genious, and they never got stale because you kept introducing new ideas using them. The texturing was fantastic and gave it a neat atmosphere. I did have a problem with the detons and the quick sinking sand (I don't know else to call it) though.

Sacred Woodland Zone6/10
There's not much to say about this level other than it had good texturing and atmosphere, but the teleporters ruin the flow of the level, and it didn't contain anything new. The room with the bridge after the first teleporter lagged like shit though, you might want to remove some scenery to fix that.Also the boss was fucking hilarious

Floral Road Zone, Act 16/10
This is much prettier than GFZ, that's for sure. There's lots of unused space though, and it contains nothing particularly notable. It's fine the first level of a pack though.

Midnight Caves Zone5/10
This level is the definition of mediocre. My biggest problem with this stage is bad texturing.

Egg Outposts Zone4/10
*Cave areas are way too dark
*The huge vertical room looks neat, but falling is a nightmare
*The music doesn't fit most of the level
*Lots and lots of effort
*Some neat ideas, just not executed well

Emerald Lake Zone, Act 24/10
There is no content in this stage worth noting.

Overall this was a really good Single Player division and I hope to see more maps like this in future contests.

Multiplayer Votes

Spoiler:

Match
1. Moonlit Precipice
*My first map.
*It took about three months to make.
*Sorry about the borked grass edges on the big stairs, I forgot to fix that before submitting.

2. Climate Chaos
*Neat climate changing gimmick
*Lot's of effort was put into it
*Visuals aren't the best

3. Crystal Coast
*Long stretches of nothing
*Huge when it doesn't need to be
*Visuals are bland and uninteresting

CTF
1. Forbidden Woods
*Nice atmosphere and visuals
*Just the right size
*The upper route could be more interesting

2. Quicksand Caverns
*Many ways to get to the other base
*Neat quicksand gimmick
*The visuals are fine, but could be a liiitle bit more interesting (stactalites?)

3. Techno Laser
*I liked the sectator rooms in each base
*Texturing is pretty good
*Very confusing at first. It took me a good five minutes to figure out where to go.

Seraphic Skylands, IT'S not OVER 9/10
How... how long did you stay in front of your computer?
The level was... I have no words to describe it, or maybe "sensationnel". I really had fun in this atmosphere, I liked the "lost garden" theme, seriously! And that music from 3D blast :3
My only problem was the framerate drop in the first area, besides that, congratulations.
EDIT: Also, the lack of enemy...

Glacier Gear, 8/10
Wow, just, wow. This was really interesting! Tough it was annoying to get shotted by the same enemy over and over because it denies you to get on the platform ><. The visual were very developped and I really had fun playing this, I liked the 2D section were I had to avoid the blue pannels under the slime, I just had a gameover because of Sonic's incredible maniability and I had to restart the whole level X). Tough, I completed it after and, nothing else to say...

Clocks Tower, 8/10
Why 8/10 for a level as awesome as this? Well, I have my reason.
First, WHY STRAFE KEYS, WHY? This pissed me off and made the stage difficult for me! Other than that, it has nice visual (dunnot if this is a skybox or the level itself in the background, but awesome). Also the 2D axis were very interresting, but when you do the U-turn a bit before the 1st or 2nd starpost (idk) it forces you to change your direction. Nothing else to say.

Sand Valley, 7,5/10
I really, really liked this one! The visual are nice etc. But you could've warn the player before the floor is about to "drop" to leave them a chance to jump, because. Also, the "deathly sand" surprised me the first time I fell in it. My only problem was the timed sand fall at the end, I fell 2 times in the pit ><

Floral Road 1, meh/10
Snip.

Sacred Woodland, 7/10
The visuals were, I agree, very good, and same for the level design, I can't say anything on this, the teleports weren't so annoying in fact. Also, the boss seemed too easy, the trapgoyles could've make an apparition here too. My only problem was my huge FPS drop in front of the temple.

Midnight Caves, 6/10
Even if the level was short, it was good and decent, my only problem was the end of the level which was confusing. Nothing else to say.

Emerald Lake 2, 4,5/10
Seemed decent at the start, but... Those underwater sections... They were so boring, I walked the 3/4 of the level by being bored because I did not find much secrets... Also, the big ammount of motobugs and nothing elese, there wasn't even one red crawla...

Egg Outposts, 4/10
Well, this level looked like a labyrinth for me, I turned around the factory for 3 minutes after the 1st checkpoint by wondering what to do, then I saw the big obvious arrow... I had to pick Tails because of my hate of platforming because of my pc having issues with srb2, making it freezing sometimes... Other than that, it misses visual, and the music doesn't find well.EDIT:Also, this might be a try to the OLDC, so I do not blame it, and all the level was decent. My only big probleme with it was the amount of platforming ><

I will rate match later, when I will play them with a friend, hard to rate a match map by just exploring it...

__________________

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bronydude2k5

If you make me a Sash Lilac wad, I'll make you a sonic sprite hack of any choice.

I'll mostly list only complaints, because no one really needs to read 10 lines of praise from a hermit, right?Note: the comments are in the order I played the levels, the rating order is above.

Spoiler:

Clock Tower Zone by RedEnchilada and Pac

[trivia]The RD emblem was the only one I thought of getting.[/trivia] Some of the enemy placement is ridiculous, ranging from harmless to annoying as hell. Being built on a NiGHTS track makes it pretty cool, but can also make your controls quite wonky when you have no idea what to press. Bouncing chains confused me a lot at the beggining of the level - my first idea was that I'll bounce higher the longer I bounce on it, not by pressing a button when about to bounce. The pit right before the end sign is bullshit, both stupid camera angle and enemies all around you to focus on; I Game Over'd there.

Egg Outposts Zone by Tyrannic

Your Deton placement makes me sick. The cavern portion has grass, despite being a cavern. It's also ridiculously dark. I managed to keep myself from turning brightness up to 11 but dear God. Stay away from those goddamn mushrooms. They make for an unwilling overshoot and also, as I've noticed, are utterly unnecessary at places because the platform you're supposed to bounce on is just as high as Sonic's jump height. The "cutscene" was incredibly laggy (on a computer that easily runs AC4: Black Flag on max graphics) and also made no sense. The scenery was alright, but at places too overdone and at other places too bland. Last call, music doesn't loop properly and was driving me nuts.

Emerald Lake Zone, Act 2 by glaber

The scenery looked like from an unfinished level, even more bland than in GFZ. Oh look, you installed windows in the house (beggining of the level). The fish were just frozen scenery objects? What has science done? Also, both the fish and Jet Jaws either appeared in only one specific underwater hallway in the entire level or I'm just not paying attention. I hate to say this, but this token is more obvious than the spring in front of the same pillar. These textures suffer from the fish syndrome as well, and are also really bad. You actually pulled off slopes. Now, if at least they weren't again in only one part of the level and didn't have the physics of a slimy wet moss floor.

Floral Road Zone, Act 1 by "Lat'"

I had problems writing your name. Random flower placement, seems to be a trend in this OLDC. Some of the secrets were pretty obvious. I disliked Red Crawlas. The script was quite interesting, but the cops gave me a speeding fine. Nothing else to say, the level was simple, yet elegant. Definitely beats the two above.

Glacier Gear Zone by toaster

EXTERMINATE! Also what's this? Okay then. You people need to stop giving me tokens, I'm here to play your stages, not Special Stages. Aside from that, secrets were well hidden. You don't die instantly by making a wrong jump (I'm looking at you Clock Towers). Music fits, I don't see many things to complain about. Maybe except the slime, I really thought I'm not supposed to jump in that when I reached the 2D section due to its sinister colour and the fact that there were random shocks in it.

Midnight Caves Zone by Chaobrother

Straightforward, bland, rather short due to its huge rooms. Music choice doesn't fit. Sometimes it lacks in ANY thing placement and sometimes there's just blatantly too much of it. Looks like a level you'd expect to see in 1.09. And here was the dilemma on where to put it in rating...

Somebody seems to like Pokémon. Quite an interesting concept. Though the level feels like it was mostly made to look at, since it's rather lacking gameplay-wise (mostly just jumping around, button hunting, uninteresting gimmicks). The boss was pathetic, not even close to being as menacing as in ERCZ. Crossing to another portion of the level with that huge fade out was also pretty poorly done.

Sand Valley Zone by Chrome

I've waited to play this since the release of 2.1. The spindash platforms, I'd have no idea how to use these without that #srb2fun leak. Minus placement is a real pain in the neck. Suspicious Game Generosity, and it shows in the very next room. Some of the Deton placement was also laughable.

Seraphic Skylands Zone by Spherallic

Oh look, Spherallic joined the SP brawl. Somebody likes spindash platforms as well. The skybox is spazzing out quite a lot when camera moves around. The spikes are rather deceiving, having hitbox a few fracunits higher than their textures. Other than that, nothing else to say. This is quite frankly work of art.

I can't be bothered to do Match/CTF since I hate PvP and no game I played yet made me think differently... AC Multiplayer is average, alright?

Just as a reminder to all those still going x/10 without listing from best to worst, you probably should read the first post again:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mystic

To vote, play a few games of each stage in a division and create a list of all the maps in the division, arranging them from best to worst with no ties. If you are voting on a division that includes your own entry, you should list your own map as the best regardless of your opinion on the quality of your own map. Although it's not required for votes to count, it's very helpful to make comments about what you liked and didn't like about the map, so the author can improve for future attempts. Please separate your comments from your votes, though, to make it easier for us to tally the scores at the end.

As a note this is the second OLDC to use this new voting system (even if the previous one was over a year ago).

EDITED AGAIN because Clock Towers/Glacier Gear weren't working due to me being stupid. No ranking update though.

First of all I want to apologize to those who got that big-ass slowdown in EOZ's cutscene and brightness problems in the dark cave, I tested it myself only due too time constrains (school etc.) and my computer was able to pull it off... I realize that due to me being the only tester the stage was pretty confusing, with parts like the dark cave being merely an experiment what I could visually/gameplay-wise do with Srb2. That makes it really had for me to put it first in my voting, but, well, that's what the rules say.

Secondly, I've encountered some weird problems with three stages. In Clock Tower Zone, the 2d mode didn't trigger, so I couldn't play it properly. EDIT 2: Works now, my bad.
In Glacier Gear, the blue platforms did nothing, I suspect they should've worked like in Wacky Workbench? EDIT 3: Works.
In Sand Valley, the black lifts didn't work it seems. EDIT 1: Okay, you need to spin.

I think that might be some mistake by me, but I can't figure it out.
I don't know how to rate these properly now, so I'll have to make assumptions, sorry :(These ratings may change if I can solve these problems soon enough.

1. Egg Outposts Zone:
While I hoped that the paths were clear and the gimmicks okay, it seems that this level was quite bad to play for most of you. Thanks for taking the time anyway, I hope it was acceptable for a first try.

2. Seraphic Skylands: The real number one. Incredible visuals and custom assets, good to follow, pretty fun. The only thing I think could be improved is the addition of one or two custom badniks that fit this stage's feeling for a little added challenge.

3. Sacred Woodlands: Also very beautifully designed, clever Robo-Hood usage and a, well, better attempt than mine certainly at creating a "dark cave". Good choice of music. The boss was a bit unnecessary though and in its arena, those invisible walls were really annoying.

4. Sand Valley: While I found some parts of the level a bit unclear and I didn't know where to go sometimes, I eventually figured it out. Again, I like the visuals, the skybox you used was great and the quicksand was neither over- nor underused. My only complaints: There were way to many different badniks in the stage, maybe lower the count to maybe three different ones. The black lifts also need a proper explanation on how to use them.

5. Glacier Gear: There were some very cool gimmicks in this stage and the new THZ slime was cleverly used. As stated above, I couldn't properly experience the blue platforms, but from what I saw, they were well spread over the level. The penguin is a bit overpowered though and it's sadly the only enemy in the stage.
EDIT: Now that it works: My opinions stay the same, nice looking level, well designed, but some minor improvements are needed.

6. Clock Tower:
Yeah, I couldn't really play this one because the 2d mode didn't trigger. From what I saw though, the visuals were (once again) pretty nice and I really liked the theme of the stage. The chain gimmick was awesome too. This might get up higher in my list if I can solve the problem mentioned before.
EDIT: Problem fixed, but the level stays where it is. The whole 2d mechanic is awesome, really awesome, and due to that, the level is pretty fun. However, there are too many Robo Hoods in this stage. I get that it would be too easy otherwise, but the constant arrow spam is pretty annoying. Apart from that, especially the final platforming segment in the tower was just too much hopping on small, same looking platforms with the ocassional chain here and there. But that's not too bad considering it's the first level like this. I hope this level type is expanded upon in the future.

7. Floral Road: Nice lua implementation and a solid level, nothing special though. I liked the visuals as with all the other stages and the stage had a nice flow.

8. Midnight caves: Pop up turrets underwater are evil >.<
I liked this stages open nature and, I think I don't need to mention it, the visuals, but I felt that some areas were a bit bland with few things in it. Some interesting gimmick would've been cool too. But I still liked playing this stage.

9. Emerald Lake: By no means a bad stage, but not very exciting to play though. I found it funny at the start where the player was teased by the goal sign. Nothing too special or interesting, but worth playing through.

Seraphic Skylands Zone, by Spherallic:
You've probably heard it all already, but this level is visually amazing, complete with scrolling clouds in the skybox! Shame about the lag in places though, but it's still playable in a non-frustrating way at least. The wind fans are cool, but the upmost best thing about this level is that it's actually inviting to replay - I'm still not convinced I've found everything to be found in it yet, I'll have to look again later...

Glacier Gear Zone, by toaster:
I'm still a bit unsure of hearing music I made myself in someone else's level. x_x But then I guess it's just my instinctive artist unsatisfaction with what I've done, so don't mind me on that point. =P

Otherwise, this level is cool in general (no pun intended, I seriously think this). I like the Wacky Workbench-style bounce pads, and the fact they short-circuit underwater is a neat touch, especially since it makes it double as an electrical hazard. The custom penguin enemy (or the "Waddalek" if you prefer) is okay, but after a while it actually gets rather annoying with the Eggmobile laser. If you could change how it attacks I guess it wouldn't be as bad?

One place I didn't like in the level was the falls that push down, just after the button that Knux can't press. It was so frustrating falling down and then climbing back up again constantly, multiplied by the fact you have the penguinator-wannabes shooting you down from out of the water. That was probably the only time I died in the level too.

Otherwise, I really do like this map in general. Just now discovered this other route with wall bouncing, as well as some well-placed secrets there and there. I WAS originally placing this below Clock Towers Zone because of the latter's technical achivements, but after some thought I realised Glacier Gear Zone is just that bit more enjoyable regardless, so I pushed it up a place to show this. Great work toaster, I look forward to playing another level by you in the future. =P

Spoiler:

BTW, the box secret was hilarious. Wasn't expecting anything like that at all, but I suppose it was pulled off well. Made the whole experience that bit more enjoyable. =)

Clock Towers Zone, by RedEnchilada and Pac:
The whole idea of this custom built 2D mode with use of axises all over is awesome, don't get me wrong. But there are several things about this level that bug me - first of all the enemy choice. The Robo-Hoods are annoying to put up with, especially while they can shoot at you from offscreen and perhaps disrupt your jumping up and up on those chain spring things. The Egg Guards meanwhile are terrible for 2D mode usage in general, being frustrating just to take down their shields so you can get past them and progress. I'm just glad you don't have them ambushing the player from both sides anymore, that was just absurd.

Next is this one falling down section with spikes scattered all over, that is just completely stupid. Blind leaps of faith all the way down, no excuse around this problem. Alright, alright, it's been pointed out to me there's a blatant safe way down here. I guess I just don't like the dull way of going down, would have been better with chains maybe?

Next up is the fact there was no way of conveying that the strafe controls control side-to-side movement rather than left/right turn keys. Some others around I know are saying "JUST MASH ALL THE CONTROLS AND FIND OUT YOURSELF STUPID", but I at least say you should convey that strafe does this? Normal 2D mode allows left/right turn keys to move left/right after all, yet of course this level doesn't. I understand the technical limitations behind left/right turn not being able to do so, but it could have least been made more clear from the start basically.

Last of all, this level is horrendously laggy, even worse than in Seraphic Skylands. Makes everything a bit more laborious to play in general. Not sure whether this is to do with the level scenery or perhaps the Lua script itself (in which case, this might not be so easily solvable I guess). This IS a good level concept, don't get me wrong, but it could use some improvements wherever possible.

Sand Valley Zone, by Chrome:
Okay, it took me one playthrough to be completely frustrated with the level, and another to sort of get over it a bit. So I'm not really sure what to say about this...

On my first playthrough, I'd quickly decided the things I couldn't stand most were:
1) The brown quicksand that pulls you down and tries to drown you
2) The first few usages of spin-rise platforms surrounded by pits
3) The surprise deton attacks there and there

The brown quicksand I'm just not a fan of at all; no matter how hard I try to say it's bad I'm shot down over at #srb2fun, so I can't really say it's a "bad" gimmick as such more than I just feel it's weird? I much more prefer the other type of quicksand, the jump-up-to-get-somewhere one... but that of course is the normal quicksand type anyway.

Those spin-rise platforms after some crumbling floors with death pits around, meanwhile... it was just too easy to overshoot the platforms first few times I went through, to the point I just objectplaced to avoid losing my last life for the second time! On my second playthrough I discovered this spin-rise platform route is actually a lower route to the higher up and easier to play quicksand falls route (it really wasn't obvious it was there at all, honestly!).

Last but not least, the placement of some of the Detons isn't actually that good - in THZ2 they are obvious and you have space to run. Here, some of them are indeed like this, but others are hidden behind boxes in dark rooms - this latter group of Detons is terrible and should be taken out.

Of the good points, I'm glad you at least use more visible spikeball sprites (the normal ones too easily blend in especially in the dark, as proved by other maps around). Also I liked the idea of jumping between the quicksand falls for the upper route, and of the idea of the continously falling (non-brown) quicksand. You also get a bonus point for the Knuckles route, which has some unique stuff of its own which is good.

It's really hard to review this due to the multiple experiences, please excuse me. There is definitely a solid level going on there, it probably just needs some work, and at the very least with some of the worse Deton placements taken out.

Egg Outposts Zone, by Tyrannic:
(Apologies for not completing this review earlier, I had been distracted by other things!)

This level in general clearly had a ton of effort put into it, and there's a lot of interesting ideas in it too! The execution meanwhile isn't totally quite there though.

First thing I notice walking into this level: Rings actually sitting on the ground - these should definitely have the "Deaf" or "Ambush" flag set.

Another important point to make is the fact that the large room with the swinging chains, as well as the caves with the crystals, suffer greatly from the fact that messing up means you have to start the section all over. They would both be fine if it wasn't for that massive downfall (in a literal sense perhaps).

The first batch of detons in that one route to the exit I had no way of knowing to dodge because of it being dark and cramped; the next batch, while conveniently far easier to spot in the large open hallway, was too easy to botch up getting away from (the 180 turn to the next hallway was in darkness, whyyy?).

Bad points done, you certainly have a few good things going here! There appears to be a number of routes tucked into this level, more than one would expect - even a route for Knuckles! Extra lives are also fairly well placed from what I've been able to tell.

You know how to use bouncy mushrooms certainly, I like how the platforming uses them twice over in some places. Please don't use them for climbing back up platforms though, considering you can't increase your jump with those things! The use of lasers is cool too, especially the alternating yellow ones. The caves with the crystals looked nice, though the fact it is rather dark in there makes it also a little bothersome to go through.

Overall I think this level has a fair bit of potential, you just need to practice level making a bit more so eventually you could be making top-quality levels like the others above! I actually had this in last place originally, but after replaying this I've changed my mind and placed it here now! It's funny how second replays change everything about OLDC voting.

Floral Road Zone Act 1, by "Lat'":In short this is a rather average first-zone style map ...without really any gimmicks of note. I'm not fooled by the flashy Lua extras such as 2-health red crawlas and a ring-fuelled speed boost - they are rather purposeless extras in general (EDIT: as it turns out they're regular features for your level pack, further supporting this view I guess). The level itself is alright and built decently, but rather simple and suffers from being a bit unmemorable.

Ignore the original review above here! After replaying I thought I'd rewrite this thing. The key to actually reviewing this level relies on its context I've been finding...

As a level against the top bulk of the SP division, this level doesn't provide much in terms of gimmicks besides some waterslides and basic platforming. But as a first zone level for a level pack (which presumably this is), this actually is quite decent given context. Some exploration value in places, decent visuals, well-built level even if it's barebones simple in the end.

I've noticed to others the Lua-scripted extras like the ring fueled boosts for character stats and the two-hit crawlas may seem attractive... but in reality they don't actually play much importance to the level itself. As it also turns out, confirmed by the author himself, these are normal features for the level pack this is intended for, further downplaying the relevance of them here at all!

Yet again my change in views regarding this level happened after several replays of this. It may be an average level, but at least it's a good sort of average!

Midnight Caves Zone, by Chaobrother:
An average map, though not so interesting. The problem with this map, while packed with three different routes with some interesting things there and there, this map just isn't that memorable. Others have been saying it isn't textured well either, and I can see what they mean here.

Also, what's with the placement of the exit? That's just odd to be frank.

Sacred Woodland Zone, by HAPPYFOX:
Sort of not quite so average level here. It's a passable level at best, but there's just some things wrong here:

*Why do the Robo-Hood's shoot fire-creating missiles? These really get in the way of platforming there and there.

*WHY must you place spikeballs in the dark in that one hallway with trapgoyles? They're black in appearance as it is, so it's not actually that easy to see them, making them a really annoying hazard there.

*Why on earth do you have a Brak Eggman battle right at the end here? It's completely out of place with regards the whole level. Also, the invisible walls here are a bad idea, considering there's no real reason why these parts of the arena should be blocked off at all in the first place.

Emerald Lake Zone Act 2, by glaber:
Yet another rather average level, but an ugly one at that. And one with an infinitely high invisible wall marked by a small fence too, seriously?

Normally custom enemies would be an interesting addition, but in the case of your Motobugs they are just yet again dull crawla clones.

Seriously, this formula of yours got stale long ago. But you've probably heard this already from others who are harsher, so I'll just leave it to their commentry from here.

This is getting to be the one exception to all the SP levels - the more I play this the more I find I dislike this. Nothing personal against you glaber, but this feels like a typical level for an SRB2 version long gone, even with the addition of 2.1-style emblems and unlockables and things. This is saying a lot.

Other things I have to say about this level:
*1) Why on earth is a whole section of level blocked off behind the end sign at the start? Not only is there enemies behind there, but rings and monitors and pretty much everything usual, which is frankly a bit stupid. How is anyone supposed to get a perfect bonus in the level without cheating? (if the second point wasn't stopping things anyway, that is)

*2) Why on earth do you also have the beta version of your level as a secret in the same map, accessible only by noclipping through some wall at the start? I've known you to be interested about past versions of official SRB2 levels (as evidenced by SRB2 The Past), but actually pulling the MR archives secret trick with your own OLDC level within itself? That's a bit overdoing it. Not least because the beta definitely is worse than the main map itself.

*3) Did you nodesbuild with ZDBSP by any chance? Your REJECT lump has a filesize of 0 (implying it has absolutely nothing), and in various places rings can't follow attraction shield-wearing players. I'm convinced there is a strong connection between these two things.

*4) Something is seriously wrong if your level is actually crashing the game every second loading of this map in the same game session (or at least that's how it is for me; for others I've heard there's different patterns or something?).

Other than this, your level is rather devoid of anything in some places, and frankly rather dull to play. So I'm placing this last place because there's not really that much to enjoy here.

Seraphic Skyland
This is for sure one of the prettiest map I have ever seen. The textures are really nice and suit each other well, the skybox is an awesome work, it give a nice celestial feel to the stage. However your stage doesn't have a very interesting gimmick. Ok, the wind is a solid gimmick but if you compare it to the gimmicks we find in stages like Glacier Gear or Sand Valley....Also adding some enemies would not be bad. So this is your first SP stage and it is really well done, keep up the good work, I want to see more.Clock Towers
When I have started playing this map I was just amazed. I wanted to see it on the top of my list and still now I want to put it higher on this list. BUT your stage suffer of one glaring issue: The horrid enemy placement, notably in the final section where the Robo Hoods make the platforming even more frustrating. However you have done a nice use of the 2D axis script in nearly all the sections and the way you used parts of the stage as a background was pure genius.Sand Valley
Your stage is pretty well done and also very nice. I really like the sand gimmick where you have to jump to ascend but the quicksands are a bit annoying, maybe you could tone down the speed at which we sink. Remove the Detons they are useless and annoying. Anyway my favorite part is certainly the Knuckles path, fun and challenging at least way better than the Knux path of the official SP rotation. Good job, I hope I could see more of you maps soon.Glacier Gear
This map would be certainly higher on the list if the penguins was not there. They are just overpowered, they can shoot fire on you even farther than the turret can do. So please remove them so that we can enjoy the true quality of this map: nice visuals, awesome gimmicks and finally that great 2D section. Floral Road
I've seen this map during all its development, so my point of view may be different from the others point of view. First, this is one of the music I like the most in the Sonic games so my playthrough was very enjoyable. Second, this is a highly improved version from the one found in NewHorizons's beta version: much more open spaces, good exploration, and a little more different from GFZ (thanks to the new grass and the diagonal-ified textures). However the biggest issue of this map is due to one of the improvement: open spaces that have nothing in them. Try to add some platforms here and there, adding extra platforms usually lead on creating an all new path (which could break the linearity of this map). Overall It's a good map for the beginning of a level pack, keep up the good work! Sacred Woodland
Nice visuals, good atmosphere and Musics. You still have the beginners way of mapping (making round sectors, putting some platform in it to advance to the next round sector....). Like Mystic said on the previous page try looking at some simple but well structured map like Floral Road to improve your stage's layout. There are more elegant way of joining sections than just putting a dark cave with a teleporter. However your stage is fun to play UNTIL you complete the first section of the temple, from there it's a total rushjob (I'm not gonna talk about the boss). If you want to improve this stage delete all the sections from the path split of the temple to the end, try keeping the good ideas like the water current section and the button hunt, improve them and take all your time to find what to do next. This is a good map and you can improve it a lot so don't surrender and continue to map to become better.Midnight Caves
Nice visuals
Very basicEmerald Lake
VERY BASICEgg Outpost
Confusing as hell
Making the player redo an all section just for missing a jump is a bad idea

Excuse me if you find some grammar mistakes in the spoiler box above and remember that english is not my first language. Thank!

@BlasterGuy: Just look at Monster Iestyn's, Badnik's, or my post for examples on how to do it correctly. There shouldn't be too much to it. If you need an even more detailed description on how to do it, then look at the first post.